Hyderabad: Muslims feel reopening of mosques may amplify Covid-19 spread

Hyderabad: The State government of Telangana has given permission for reopening of religious places from Tuesday. But a huge chunk of mosques in the city are located in less developed and congested areas and this fact is worrying factor for many experts from the Muslim community.

Experts from Muslim community believe that the permission granted to open mosques from June 8 will further lead to growth of virus as 60 per cent of mosques are located backward areas where public have little civic sense.

A cross section of Muslims mainly doctors, engineers, public health experts and socio-religious groups are concerned about the mosques reopening up for the public, which may up the risk of the spread of the coronavirus as seen in other countries particularly in South Africa.

Mansoor Ahmed, a social worker noted, 40 per cent of the present rise in the Covid cases in the city (GHMC) limits, is on account of social gatherings, crowded places under one roof like hospitals, malls, vegetable and fish markets, function halls etc and now religious places of worship opening up more so the mosques, the danger of the virus quickly spreading looms large."

He further added, "although most of the mosques have put in a list of dos & don'ts (SOP) like maintaining social distance while praying, shortening pray times, doing ablution at home and wearing face mask etc; yet these measures are not adequate to guarantee protection and safety of musalis or devout who would want to offer prayers in the mosques starting tomorrow." Mujtaba Askari of Helping Hand Foundation, an NGO which works mostly in government hospitals, said that in spite of provisioning of PPEs, N-95 masks and sanitisers in hospitals, over 200 plus doctors and paramedical staff have tested positive for Covid in the city and one of the main reasons is that there is always a huge load of patients in these hospitals and they are mostly congested and crowded. "Unfortunately many people in the city are from lower economic strata residing in the localities where almost 60 per cent of the 8,000 mosques are located and they have poor civic sense and may not fully appreciate and adhere to the safety standards being framed," added Mujtaba.

Dr. Md. Shafi, consultant, infectious diseases, Omega Bibi Oncology Hospital, noted, "With limited health care resources and pandemic peak not yet reached, it will be too early and risky to open mosques. Opening mosques will not only be attracting cases but will also give a chance for hatred mongers to spread fear."